Croatia win group by beating holders Spain

June 22, 2016 02:40 am | Updated October 18, 2016 03:14 pm IST - BORDEAUX, France

Football Soccer - Croatia v Spain - EURO 2016 - Group D - Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France - 21/6/16Spain's Gerard Pique in action with Croatia's Ivan Perisic REUTERS/Michael DalderLivepic

Football Soccer - Croatia v Spain - EURO 2016 - Group D - Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France - 21/6/16Spain's Gerard Pique in action with Croatia's Ivan Perisic REUTERS/Michael DalderLivepic

Holders Spain lost for the first time in 15 matches at the European Championship finals on Tuesday when Croatia beat them 2-1 to win Group D at Euro 2016.

Ivan Perisic scored the winner with three minutes left after Croatia keeper Danijel Subasic had saved a penalty from Spain captain Sergio Ramos with 20 minutes remaining.

Croatia's Nikola Kalinic had cancelled out an early goal from Spain striker Alvaro Morata in the first half.

Spain meet Group E winners Italy in the last 16 on Monday in Paris, while Croatia will play one of the third-placed teams in Lens on Saturday.

Kalinic's goal just before the break was the first goal conceded by Spain in 948 minutes of European Championship matches since October 2014.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.